tele_jas
Tele-Afflicted
I've had the La Brea bridge pickup for several months, and love it. I finally decided to try the neck pickup.
I replaced the "Twisted Tele" neck pickup in my Brad Paisley Road Worn Tele.... MAN, what a difference!!!
The Twisted Tele is very "Strat" like, with an open/airy top end and scooped mids, with a nice bass response. It's almost somewhat compressed and percussive when playing some funk on it.
The SD La Brea is very thick, much more rounded off on the top end and more like a kick in the butt when you try playing funky rhythm on it. It doesn't cut as well on the top end, but it doesn't get as lost in the mix, which kind of contradicts each other. The top end percussiveness isn't there on the SD, but the thick mids help it cut a little better, especially when using overdrive or distortion. When playing clean, it doesn't feel as responsive and kind of dull, but when you kick in any dirt at all it comes to life and is very toneful.
Let me just say this though... The middle position, DANG!!! This makes it all worth it.... Super chimey with some great low end and low mids, while having great note definition and clarity. Whereas with the Twisted Tele, it was too thin and almost sounded out of phase and really bright (but wasn't out of phase, I checked).
My other Tele has the SD mini bucker in the neck position ('52 Hotrod Tele), the SD La Brea reminds me of that pickup, with a little less output and slightly less top end. I may bypass the tone pot and see that that does.... If it livens up the neck position and doesn't affect the middle too much, I may leave it like that (tone bypassed).
Over all, it sounds like a great classic neck pickup and doesn't even come close to resembling a Strat tone (like some of the others try to achieve).
I replaced the "Twisted Tele" neck pickup in my Brad Paisley Road Worn Tele.... MAN, what a difference!!!
The Twisted Tele is very "Strat" like, with an open/airy top end and scooped mids, with a nice bass response. It's almost somewhat compressed and percussive when playing some funk on it.
The SD La Brea is very thick, much more rounded off on the top end and more like a kick in the butt when you try playing funky rhythm on it. It doesn't cut as well on the top end, but it doesn't get as lost in the mix, which kind of contradicts each other. The top end percussiveness isn't there on the SD, but the thick mids help it cut a little better, especially when using overdrive or distortion. When playing clean, it doesn't feel as responsive and kind of dull, but when you kick in any dirt at all it comes to life and is very toneful.
Let me just say this though... The middle position, DANG!!! This makes it all worth it.... Super chimey with some great low end and low mids, while having great note definition and clarity. Whereas with the Twisted Tele, it was too thin and almost sounded out of phase and really bright (but wasn't out of phase, I checked).
My other Tele has the SD mini bucker in the neck position ('52 Hotrod Tele), the SD La Brea reminds me of that pickup, with a little less output and slightly less top end. I may bypass the tone pot and see that that does.... If it livens up the neck position and doesn't affect the middle too much, I may leave it like that (tone bypassed).
Over all, it sounds like a great classic neck pickup and doesn't even come close to resembling a Strat tone (like some of the others try to achieve).
